Who should be DH for the NL in the MLB All-Star Game?
The starters for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game have been announced, except for who will serve as the designated hitter for the National League squad. Who should it be?
Late Thursday afternoon, Major League Baseball revealed the leading vote-getters in the 2019 Google All-Star Starters Election, thus what position players were chosen by fans as starters for the MLB All-Star Game.
Overall, the fans just about got it right when choosing who warranted a spot in their respective league’s All-Star starting lineup for the 90th Midsummer Classic. After Mike Trout received the most votes (993,857) overall, the rest of the American League outfield voting was very close and one could argue the 3rd spot could have been awarded to multiple players (performance-wise; we get it’s a fan vote). Additionally, the National League first base race was neck-and-neck while the second base and 3rd outfielder choices were pretty close as well.
However, one All-Star starter that has yet to be determined is who will serve as the National League’s designated hitter, since both leagues trot out a DH for the second-most important interleague matchup of the year. Veteran oddball Hunter Pence of the Texas Rangers represents the AL at DH, but no one has been announced to man the position in the senior circuit.
Since manager of the NL All-Star team Dave Roberts has yet to publicly decide who will start for his team at designated hitter, I have put together the three players who have the best opportunity to be chosen based on their first-half numbers. All three should make the All-Star roster, but there’s only one remaining spot in the starting lineup for NL position players.
MLB All-Star Game
#3: Peter Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
Rookie Peter Alonso is just about the only thing New York Mets fans have to look forward to nowadays as their organization’s reputation as a dumpster fire has reached the point of burning brighter than it has in quite some time — or at least in the past few weeks. The 24-year old first baseman has been one of the most potent hitters in the senior circuit, having crushed 27 home runs which is the second-most in all of baseball. On top of that, “Polar Pete” is hitting .277 with 18 doubles, 52 runs, 63 RBI, .992 OPS and 3.6 WAR; needless to say, he’s the clear frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year at this point of the season.
Alonso wasn’t on enough ballots in the first round of voting to advance to the All-Star Starters Election, but his gaudy stat line speaks for itself. Not only does Alonso have the numbers that warrant an All-Star selection, but the NL first base group is deep enough to afford to have three players to man the position in the game (which is typically the number of guys that run through each position in the Midsummer Classic) while having a fourth penciled in at DH.
The lone argument against Polar Pete starting the All-Star Game as the designated hitter is that perhaps Roberts may rather award the honor to a veteran whose service time could be a tiebreaker when deciding who gets to be in the starting lineup. Either way, Alonso will be in the All-Star Game and deservedly so.
MLB All-Star Game
#2: Charlie Blackmon, OF, Colorado Rockies
Another player whose played at an All-Star level is Colorado Rockies right fielder Charlie Blackmon. If it wasn’t for a two-week IL stint the 32-year old would have probably been named a starting outfielder as his all-around numbers would likely be better than Ronald Acuna Jr.’s (although it’s hard to take down the Atlanta Braves faithful when it comes to All-Star voting), as the bearded slugger has performed to the high standards that have cemented him as one of the league’s best-hitting outfielders over the past several years. Blackmon is hitting .325 with 18 home runs, 19 doubles, 57 runs, and a .999 OPS. He’s been even better since coming off the IL June 7th, as evident by a robust .388 batting average with 8 long balls and 1.200 (!!) OPS this month.
Even though he’s only played in 64 of the Colorado Rockies’ first 80 games, “Chuck Nazty” ranks in the top 10 in the NL in hits, runs and total bases while having the most triples and sitting 4th in AVG and SLG and 5th in OPS, respectively.
The 3-time All-Star is surely deserving of a spot in the starting lineup, however, one factor that may cause him to enter the game later as a replacement is the antithesis of why Alonso could be named DH: the list of All-Star worthy outfielders in the NL isn’t that long.
MLB All-Star Game
#1: Josh Bell, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
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Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell has gone off in his third season as a full-time big leaguer. After underperforming last year, the 26-year old has become one of the league’s premier hitters and that’s not an exaggeration in the slightest. Among NL players, Bell ranks 1st in RBI (70) and doubles (29), 3rd in OPS (1.029), 4th in runs (61), 5th in hits (94), 6th in homers (22), and 9th in batting average (.311). This guy is seriously really, really good.
Bell has certainly played well enough to merit a spot in the NL’s starting lineup but finished 2nd in the first base voting to Freddie Freeman by just roughly 16,000 votes. To give Freeman credit, he’s also performed at a level worthy of being named an All-Star starter, but Bell’s numbers are better across the board — the Pirate would have certainly had more votes if he was more of a household name, or if his team’s fan base even remotely rivaled that of the Braves. Bell had the most votes (567,143) in the All-Star Starters Election than any player who didn’t get the starting gig.
Next. Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr. is an All-Star. dark
Even though Josh Bell wasn’t selected as the starting first baseman for the National League, he should be in the starting lineup as the designated hitter. Bell’s phenomenal first half is well deserving of a spot on the starting lineup, and would adequately represent the senior circuit as one of their best players.